Ken Bates

[Starry]

All done. Result will be announced in the next hour or so.

Krasner/Morris is ready to go to the High Court (as I believe are two other unnamed parties) though and PKF have waded into the mess saying that KPMG have not conducted the administration in a right and proper way and if things were done in a fair and just way they can void everything.

Astor refused to consider an 18p in the £1 bid but are happy with Bates' 1p in £1 offer, Bates had nothing to do with Astor until Dec 06 when he was 'active' and has had nothing to do with them since.

Neil Meader is the man behind them who also worked for KPMG within the last ten years.

Paddy is not a happy bunny, apparently Bates will win by 1% because KPMG discounted various other creditors votes for certain reasons.

Red Bus were bidding, don't want to see it end in the high court but acknowledge this is likely.

 

[Starry]

They are running about two hours late and now certain people want to be gone from the meeting by 5pm and they might not have it sorted today anyway

Like I said, over for the day now. Sigh.

No result but they are convinced it's a done deal. They want a recount on Monday. Blah.

74% an first, 75.02% on second.

PS Why can't I edit posts older than ten minutes now? Would save keep bumping things back up!

 

[Starry]

£35million votes - one pound, one vote and KPMG have rubbished £20million of them because of 'irregularities'

 

[Lord Bracknell]

BEFORE THE MEETING:-

From The Yoerkshire Post:-

Deal or no deal? Creditors' dilemma on Leeds future

By David Parkin Business Editor

The latest chapter in the complicated financial history of Leeds United takes place today. Business Editor David Parkin examines what might happen.

ANYONE hoping that the long, complicated saga that is Leeds United's financial woes will come to an end following today's creditors' meeting could be disappointed.

Almost a month after the club went into adminstration as it teetered on the brink of relegation from the Football League Championship, those to whom it owes more than £36m will meet at Elland Road today to vote on what happens next.

Club chairman Ken Bates and his fellow directors saw the club put into administration and then immediately put an offer on the table to administrators from accountancy firm KPMG.

That would give creditors the seemingly derisory sum of a penny for every pound they are owed and Bates has been keen to declare that it is the only offer that can secure the long-term future of Leeds United.

Despite the club facing an immediate future in League One – the lowest position it has ever been in its long and proud history – it appears that has not deterred would-be investors from making counter bids to that of Bates.

There will be five rival offers sitting on the table in front of joint administrator Richard Fleming, who will chair today's meeting in the banqueting suite at Elland Road.

Those include two US groups, two consortiums of UK-based businessmen and one private individual. They have made offers of up to £10m including offers of between £1.2m and £3.2m to unsecured creditors.

All give creditors substantially more than the offer made by Leeds United Football Club Ltd, the new company formed by Ken Bates and his fellow directors Mark Taylor and Shaun Harvey.

But in the complicated world that is UK insolvency law, that doesn't mean that they have a chance of being accepted.

That is because the vote on the CVA (company voluntary arrangement) proposal must achieve the support of 75 per cent of creditors. And the three largest creditors – the Swiss-based Forward Sports Fund and Astor Investments, and Krato Trust which are based in the Caribbean tax havens of the British Virgin Islands and Nevis – claim they are owed £17.78m which is around 45 per cent of the debt.

That is enough to block an alternative offer.

The question is whether the offer which backs Bates can achieve the support of creditors representing another 30 per cent of the votes.

It has been no secret that those behind the proposal have spent the last couple of weeks lobbying creditors to vote in favour of their offer.

But then those involved in the rival offers have also been busy telephoning creditors too.

The Inland Revenue, which is owed £7m, is one of the largest creditors. Once protected by what was known as Crown Preference – it would be paid before all other creditors – a change in the law means it must now take its chances alongside a long list of small organisations owed money ranging from a mobile disco to a cancer hospice.

The Revenue's obligation is to get as much money back on behalf of the British taxpayer. Under Bates's offer it will receive £70,000 for its £7m.

The rival offers could give it up to £700,000.

It will almost certainly vote against the CVA.

And then there is Leeds City Council, which is owed up to £1m in unpaid council tax and other fees. Bates's rhetoric has focused on declaring how the council would not want to vote for the demise of the city's football club.

It will be represented by a senior insolvency expert from a national firm today and is unlikely to be swayed by rhetoric from a man who has spent his career playing to the gallery.

Can the Bates offer attain 75 per cent of the votes or can those who oppose it muster more than 25 per cent to defeat it?

Financial observers reckon it is too close to call – but things certainly seem to be in favour of the Bates offer.

Joint administrator Richard Fleming said: "While we have marketed the business and secured alternative offers for the club, we have also had to advise creditors that more than 25 per cent of the creditors by value have informed us that the deal on the table, to sell the club to the newly formed Leeds United Football Club Ltd, is the only proposal they will support. Given a CVA proposal requires the support of 75 per cent of creditors by value, this would appear to make it difficult for any other offer to be successfully progressed."

If the proposal is carried the administrators will seek approval from the Football League and will progress the payment of a dividend to creditors.

If not, the meeting will be adjourned and an alternative solution will be sought for creditor approval.

That could involve the administrators rejecting the offer on the table, taking control of the club for £1 and then putting it up for sale on the open market to get the best deal for creditors.






AFTER THE MEETING:-

Bates Leeds bid on hold

Ken Bates’ bid to regain control of Leeds has been placed on hold with creditors asked to return next week for a recount of the vote.

Bates, who placed the club in administration on May 4 with debts of £35million, is expected to have his offer to buy back the club accepted by the slimmest of margins.

But because the creditors vote was so close, the club’s administrators KPMG adjourned the meeting and the recount will be held on Monday morning at Elland Road.

Bates requires 75% of the vote to have his offer of 1p in the pound accepted by creditors and the original count showed he had 75.02%.

 

[surrey jim]

appologies if this has been said in the thread previous but since St Johns ambulance expenses (£165) will not be paid, can they refuse to attend games in the future? surley this will leave leeds with another massive headache

 

[Starry]

They already said they would still maintain a working relationship with any football club and that they realised it's not the fault of the fans or players (who would need their help) and stuff. Donations have been made to them, the bible study group, childline matching the money they were listed as owed on the list.

Busy weekend of phone calls I guess. I am not sure how deep the collective pockets are for a high court battle, but we certainly won't hear the last of it on Monday morning.

Bates refused to go into the meeting and sent Taylor instead, sat away in a room having everything relayed to him and because the Morris bid offered £5m extra on conditions he leapt up and offered £5.2m.

Paddy said the whole thing was a complete shambles, that KPMG have yet to give any reason for why £20m of the vote was rubbished (thankfully our vote counted otherwise he'd probably had had a coronary by now,) no one knew what they were doing, no one would answer anything.

I don't know. We can't even go bust properly

 

[C.Gull]

If I was owed anything by Leeds United, then offered 1p in the £ Bates should be the last option to be in control of the club.
The administrators are supposed to find the best deal for the club,Bates could not possibly be the answer.
As a matter of interest how much did Bates receive for selling Chelsea?

 

[surrey jim]

If I was owed anything by Leeds United, then offered 1p in the £ Bates should be the last option to be in control of the club.
The administrators are supposed to find the best deal for the club,Bates could not possibly be the answer.
As a matter of interest how much did Bates receive for selling Chelsea?

Ken Bates bought Chelsea football club in 1982 for £1, while taking on debts of £1.5m.

The fortunes following such sales can also vary sharply. When Ken Bates sold the club to Roman Abramovich in 2003, the deal was worth £140m, and Chelsea has gone on to premiership triumphs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5262616.stm?ls

 

[Starry]

If I was owed anything by Leeds United, then offered 1p in the £ Bates should be the last option to be in control of the club.
The administrators are supposed to find the best deal for the club,Bates could not possibly be the answer.
As a matter of interest how much did Bates receive for selling Chelsea?

Just under £20m in his pocket, up front.

Also, all the other bids have had to show KPMG full proof of funds, Bates showed proof of £500,000 to cover everything at the time KPMG agreed to sell the club back to him one minute after going into admin.

KPMG alone are now owed £243k and Walker Morris £175k.

 

[surrey jim]

Just under £20m in his pocket, up front.

Also, all the other bids have had to show KPMG full proof of funds, Bates showed proof of £500,000 to cover everything at the time KPMG agreed to sell the club back to him one minute after going into admin.

KPMG alone are now owed £243k and Walker Morris £175k.

bet they wont accept 1p in the pound for their services

 

[e77]

I am no expert but if I was a creditor and the administrator turned down a 20p in the pound bid in favour of a 1p in the pound bid I wouldn't be happy!

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Bates bid for Leeds needs a recount

The battle for control of Leeds is expected to be resolved in court, it was revealed at a stormy creditors' meeting at Elland Road today.

Creditors voted by the slimmest of margins to accept Ken Bates' offer to buy back the club, but it was so close administrators KPMG were forced to abandon the meeting and call for a recount on Monday morning.

Some creditors argued Bates' offer to pay back money owed by Leeds was not the best on the table and claimed other parties interested in buying the club had not been given a fair chance.

Bates, who placed Leeds in administration with debts of £35million on May 4, requires 75% of the vote to have his offer of 1p in the pound accepted by creditors and the original count showed he had 75.02%.

KPMG released the following statement: 'The creditors' meeting has been adjourned without a conclusion being reached due to the first count of the creditors' votes on the creditors' voluntary agreement (CVA) proposal producing a very close result.

'This means administrators KPMG wish to recount. The meeting will be reconvened on Monday, June 4, at 10am at Elland Road for the results to be provided.'

Bates was forced to call in the administrators before the last Coca-Cola Championship game of the season after the Inland Revenue issued a winding-up order due to an unpaid bill of £7million.

But with the approval of KPMG, the club were immediately sold to a newly-formed company, Leeds United Football Club Limited, of which Bates is a listed director.

It is understood Bates faces opposition from five different consortia, with some now considering legal action should Bates emerge victorious.

KPMG have refused to identify the five would-be investors ahead of the company voluntary arrangement (CVA) meeting, but local property developer Simon Morris and Duncan Revie, son of legendary former Leeds manager Don and fronting a bid from an individual Dubai-based backer, have both officially lodged their interest.

A third consortium to have lodged proof of funds with KPMG, London-based Redbus Group identified themselves today, but revealed they would be reluctant to take the legal route.

Redbus chairman Simon Franks said: 'From our point of view I'm not sure we'd want to be involved in that because it's very messy for the club at that point to delay things and I think every Leeds fan, in fact every fan of British football, wants to see Leeds in the Premiership.

'And if we're spending months fighting this out in court it's going to delay them getting back there, so I don't think anyone wants that outcome, but it may be that it's unavoidable because it's a very complex issue.

'The administrators have got a very difficult job and it was at times heated, let's put it that way.

'There were some uncomfortable moments in the meeting, but I think there was no other way for it to go unfortunately.

'When a club goes into administration it's difficult, especially a club as big as Leeds with all the passion surrounding it.'

Chairman of Leeds United Supporters' Club, Ray Fell, said fans would be 'bewildered' by the latest events to unfold at Elland Road.

Fell said: 'They were hoping for some indication of where Leeds will be going but that has not happened because this will run and run for a while.

'It's possible that this will go to the courts. It could be any one of the creditors who can challenge it legally and it will not be a surprise to me if that happens from what I have heard today.

'Fans will be concerned Leeds will not be up and running and ready to start the new season in August.'



------------------------------------

Redbus chairman Simon Franks said: '... I think every Leeds fan, in fact every fan of British football, wants to see Leeds in the Premiership'.

Eh? ...

 

[Superphil]

£35million votes - one pound, one vote and KPMG have rubbished £20million of them because of 'irregularities'

What are the irregularities? Why are there irregularities, is this a cover up/sham?

 

[Trigger]

Redbus chairman Simon Franks said: '... I think every Leeds fan, in fact every fan of British football, wants to see Leeds in the Premiership'.

Eh? ...

I'm obviously not a fan of British football then...

 

[Nemesis]

Redbus chairman Simon Franks said: '... I think every Leeds fan, in fact every fan of British football, wants to see Leeds in the Premiership'.

Of course we do

Personally, I hope they struggle at the ass end of League football for years.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

More from the Yorkshire Post:-

Leeds future hangs in balance as recount held on Bates deal

THE future of debt-ridden Leeds United hung in the balance last night after the club's administrator ordered a recount of creditors' votes on a controversial survival plan.

After a heated six-hour meeting at Elland Road, would-be chairman Ken Bates found himself only fractionally over the 75 per cent of votes he needed to regain control from the administrator.

As a result, Richard Fleming, administrator at accountants KPMG, adjourned the creditors' meeting until Monday morning when the votes accounting for debt of in excess of £35m will be counted again. Mr Bates received 75.02 per cent support in the first count.

Even if Mr Bates' bid to rebuy the club from the administrator goes through, there were warnings that some of the larger creditors were likely to challenge the outcome in the courts. Any legal action delaying the club's re-emergence from administration would leave it in limbo unable to buy or sell players or prepare for the coming season.

Mr Fleming had warned creditors that Mr Bates' offer to pay creditors just 1p for every pound owed was effectively the only acceptable deal on the table because it was the only one the largest creditor – an anonymously owned offshore company – had said it would support.

He told the meeting that Astor Investment Holdings, registered in the British Virgin Islands, essentially had the controlling hand because with more than 25 per cent of the debt owed to it alone, Astor could block any agreement requiring more than 75 per cent of creditors' backing.

Consequently, despite at least five other offers on the table to buy the club with a greater return for creditors, the club would face potential liquidation if Mr Bates' deal was not accepted.

It was a position that many major creditors at the meeting found unpalatable, with a series of searching questions asked about any possible links between Astor and Mr Bates. If a link was established it could have affected Astor's ability to vote on the grounds of a potential prejudicial interest.

Mr Fleming told the meeting that the administrator had been unable to find any link despite intense investigation and accepted sworn statements from Mr Bates and his co-director, Mark Taylor, plus a letter from Astor that they were unconnected.

But it then transpired that Leeds United's last company accounts included a direct reference to Astor having "an interest in Forward Sports Fund", the club's owners and the company Mr Bates represents, as of June 30 last year.

The administrator admitted the link had not been known, but Mr Taylor told the meeting: "There was an association on June 30 – there isn't now."

Former Leeds United chairman Gerald Krasner, an insolvency practitioner representing a number of creditors at the meeting, was blunt in his assessment of how the Bates deal had been arrived at: "The creditors are going to get shafted by the way this whole thing has been drawn up."

He went on to attempt to force an amendment to the deal which would force Mr Bates to remain at the helm of the club for more than five years or pay a penalty to creditors, but Astor blocked the move, meaning Mr Bates could sell up after six months.

Creditors also expressed concern that the administrator had done a deal with Mr Bates requiring only £500,000 in upfront funding when other parties had been told to show proof of funding amounting to £10m.

As pressure on the deal mounted, the meeting took a bizarre twist when Mr Taylor abruptly announced that Mr Bates' deal would include a further £5m for creditors if Leeds returned to the Premiership in the next five years. He openly said he had borrowed the idea from local property developer Simon Morris.

The potential extra payment was included in the final deal put to 1,300 plus creditors.

Last Updated: 02 June 2007

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Mr Fleming told the meeting that the administrator had been unable to find any link despite intense investigation and accepted sworn statements from Mr Bates and his co-director, Mark Taylor, plus a letter from Astor that they were unconnected.

But it then transpired that Leeds United's last company accounts included a direct reference to Astor having "an interest in Forward Sports Fund", the club's owners and the company Mr Bates represents, as of June 30 last year.

The administrator admitted the link had not been known, but Mr Taylor told the meeting: "There was an association on June 30 – there isn't now."

So let's get this straight.

The administrator is KPMG, one of the world's major accountancy firms, allegedly.

There is important information in Leeds United's last company accounts.

The administrator hadn't found it.

Do KPMG not even bother to READ the company accounts?

 

[bhaexpress]

Sadly Bates is yet another charlatan who has come to a club in need as a saviour only to turn out to be legally right but morally wrong. This list is long starting with Archer but look down the league and the rogues gallery is long, be a it a Knighton at Carlisle or Darren Brown at Chesterfield it's a very long list.

What's the answer ? The Football League vet all potential buyers ? If that was the case who would own Chelsea right now ?

 

[Starry]

So let's get this straight.

The administrator is KPMG, one of the world's major accountancy firms, allegedly.

There is important information in Leeds United's last company accounts.

The administrator hadn't found it.

Do KPMG not even bother to READ the company accounts?

They haven't bothered to do a lot of things they should have and have managed to do plenty of things they shouldn't have.

We ended up going up to Leeds to keep Paddy company until today and I am completely convinced that no matter what happens tomorrow there will be high court action.

Several players voted against the bid on Friday and have been told they will never play for the club while Bates 'owns' it. If he wants to ban all the fans who voted against him as well he's going to have an even emptier Elland Road next season.

 

[surrey jim]

They haven't bothered to do a lot of things they should have and have managed to do plenty of things they shouldn't have.

We ended up going up to Leeds to keep Paddy company until today and I am completely convinced that no matter what happens tomorrow there will be high court action.

Several players voted against the bid on Friday and have been told they will never play for the club while Bates 'owns' it. If he wants to ban all the fans who voted against him as well he's going to have an even emptier Elland Road next season.

surley it is an annonomous vote